Magical Journey: The Other Shore Blooms on the Other Shore

"Teacher Alice... why are you crying?" Qin nestled in Alice's arms. He was only ten years old, but his mind had been forced to mature at a very young age. Yet, he was very willing to show his vulnerable side in front of his teacher.

Perhaps it was because Alice never laughed at him, or perhaps Alice treated him as a human being.

Jean knew that Alice was leaving. Although she was very sad, just when she was about to collapse, the drug and magic brought her back to calm.

“Jin…” Alice’s only truly carefree time in recent years has been the time she spends with Jin, but that time is about to end.

"That Lyman guy is a bad guy, isn't he?" Even Jean, who was almost completely isolated from the outside world, knew about Lyman's notorious reputation, though she learned it from a casual conversation among researchers.

“Hmm…” Alice did not deny it.

“Teacher Alice, we…” Qin Xin convulsed, the emotions that had just surged up were once again suppressed by the medication.

Then something was quickly forgotten.

At that moment, he instantly forgot what he wanted to say. Years later, when he recalled this incident, he probably thought he was saying, "Let's die together, let's escape to the afterlife together."

“Jin, only now do I truly understand you,” Alice said with a self-deprecating laugh. “Before that, I was just being presumptuous.”

Jean couldn't understand what Alice was saying.

I still didn't understand it even after I grew up.

Nothing changed; Alice left. She left the laboratory.

That was the last time Jean saw Alice alive. In Beatrice, perhaps such a separation of life and death was merely a fragment in a larger picture, not worth lingering over.

……

"Qin, don't you feel ashamed living like this?"

"Qin, think about your name, isn't it humiliating?"

"Don't you want to save your teacher? He's your only companion!"

"She'll die, she'll die a horrible death. It'll be a tragedy. Hahahaha~~~"

Since Alice left, Jean has had frequent nightmares, perhaps related to Alice's departure, or perhaps because the researchers have become more brutal in their experiments on him.

The truth is, he has the same dream every time he falls asleep. In the dream, there is another version of himself, constantly screaming hysterically about his misfortune and urging himself to denounce the world.

"Think about it, how cowardly you are, so cowardly that everyone bullies you."

"Think about it, how did those noble witches treat you in the orphanage? They gave you the food meant for dogs, and how did you resist? Just thinking 'I don't want the witches' charity' in your mind, and then obediently licking it, is so ridiculous that it's not funny at all."

"Think about it, your only companion is suffering terribly, and you, you can only stay here, unable to die even if you want to. Qin, you are truly a tragedy, oh, even tragedy cannot describe your life."

Demons. Jean later realized who she was talking to—not herself, but demons that feed on human reason and frequently invade people's dreams to better enslave them.

"Accept me, unleash your fury—use your fists to shatter this world, and let the whole world bury your misfortune."

Normally, dreaming of demons every night wouldn't have much effect on her mind, but one day, perhaps the quality of the sedative injection wasn't up to par, and young Qin's mind was successfully stirred up by the demon.

"Come on, let's play a game, make a little deal, and go kill them all," whispered the abyss.

Qin opened her eyes in her sleep, and the crimson light in her pupils was like a demon crawling up from hell to claim a life.

At that moment, Qin naturally learned magic, magic from the demons of the abyss.

He didn't know how he learned magic; as long as he abandoned reason, power would flow endlessly. That terrifyingly powerful force made him feel like he was no longer himself.

The demon's magic was exceptionally powerful, and Jean felt as if she could truly control the entire world.

The fire began to engulf the entire laboratory, and the researchers fled in panic. It was at this moment that Qin truly returned to the world.

"Teacher Alice..." Jean had no other thoughts in her mind. Perhaps it was the guidance of the devil—their nature was so wicked, they liked to play with people's hearts. The devil deliberately let Jean know where Alice was, which was also the location of the Lyman family.

The piano flew at supersonic speed high in the sky, crashing into the Lyman family's detached house like a blood-red meteor.

He had never wanted to destroy the world; it was all the world's fault, and he wanted to kill everyone in it. But all those thoughts cooled the moment he saw Alice's corpse.

Alice committed suicide...

He witnessed Alice hang herself from the rafters, while the Lyman family chattered and laughed, mocking Alice for being such a tasteless woman. They surrounded Alice as if discussing something that had nothing to do with them.

After that, all the anger that had just cooled down erupted in an instant. For the first time, the Lyman family witnessed what hell was like. A terrible fire engulfed the entire building, and it was later proven that no one survived.

The investigation by the Snow Guard seems to have reached a dead end. The only evidence at the scene is the charred remains of the Lyman family members, but the murderer's body is missing, as is Alice's body.

Every witness believed it was a demonic attack; the blood-red, menacing light was so ominous that it was clearly not something a magician could create. The destruction of the Lyman family was ultimately attributed by the Snow Guard to a demonic attack.

……

"Teacher Alice, we made a promise, but I didn't expect you to break it first." Qin placed the spider lily in front of the small grave he had just built. This place was quite a distance from Beatrice. Although the wind and snow were still blowing, being buried here would prevent Alice from recalling the unhappiness of her past life.

Qin vaguely remembered the words Alice had said to her during the several times she had attempted suicide.

“Everyone has their own path. When you find your true path, please don’t actively seek death, okay?” Alice said earnestly. Afterwards, she realized how presumptuous she had been and regretted saying those words.

What, then, is the real road?

"That's for you to decide; no one else can. If you feel you've lived enough, that's enough, and that's how life should be, then leave this world quickly and decisively," Alice defined.

"We had a promise, and you never helped me when I miss so many times, but now you're the one who's dead." Jean sat blankly in front of Alice's grave. "What a wicked woman. Selfish and greedy, she easily got what I couldn't have."

“I’m not the kind of person who breaks promises like you. I won’t commit suicide.” Qin curled her lips. “This should be the last time we meet in this world, Teacher Alice.”

“You always tell me that the outside world isn’t like Beatrice, but you’ve never actually been out there yourself, have you? It’s very quiet here; probably no one will bother you. And I… I want to go see the outside world for you…”

"You're still the same as ever... even less eloquent than me. And you cry just as much as I do."

"You're probably tired of talking."

“If we ever meet again, let me speak. Take care, Ms. Alice…”

Qin bowed her chest and waited quietly for a while, then slowly left.

From then on, no one ever passed by again. Only a small tombstone with the crookedly carved word "Alice" remained, nestled in the snow, and beside the grave...

The solitary, blood-red spider lily symbolizes both strength and death.